


Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop

by TheRaineLifted



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hot Chocolate, ninette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 00:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17213876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRaineLifted/pseuds/TheRaineLifted
Summary: Inspired by the song of the same name by Landon Pigg. Nino meets a girl at a coffee shop and they become instant best friends. This story follows how their relationship grows in the coffee shop they met in.





	Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop

**Nino POV (7 years old)**

Maman made me go out shopping with her today, but at least she promised me hot chocolate!

We waited in a really long line. Behind us, a nice looking lady came in with a girl a little taller than me. I clung to maman’s leg, unsure about this girl bouncing up and down.

Excited blue eyes looked at me and I saw her smile before she was waving crazily at me. I smiled back at her, since maman told me to always be polite.

The girl stepped closer to me. “Hi! My name is Marinette! What’s yours?”

I looked up to my mother and she nodded at me, so I answered. “I’m Nino.”

“What are you getting here, Nino?”

“Hot chocolate.”

Impossibly, the girl’s smile got bigger. “No way! Me too!”

I grinned back at the girl in pigtails. “Really? It’s my favorite!”

“Mine too! Papa always tells me it’s ‘cause I’m too sweet.” She giggled and I liked it.

“Can we be friends?”

“Duh, Nino!” she called out. “Nino, Nino, Nino. I’ll remember that now. Maman, can Nino come over and play sometime?”

I looked towards my own mother, who was already talking to that nice looking lady my new friend came in with.

“Of course, sweetie. I was just talking to Sylvia here about it. Can you say hello to Sylvia?”

“Hi, Sylvia! It’s nice to meet you!”

Maman laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, too, young lady. Nino, this is Sabine.”

I waved. “Hi, Sabine.”

We had finally reached the front of the line, but I didn’t want to leave. Maman gave me my cup. “Say goodbye, Nino. We’ll call and arrange a playdate soon.”

What was the girl’s name again? “Bye, Nette!” I called, hoping I was close.

The girl, luckily, didn’t seem too bothered. She just laughed. “It’s _Mari_ nette!”

I tried again. “Bye Marinette!”

“Bye Nino!”

I followed Maman out of the shop.

**(13 years old)**

Nette and I hurried into the shop, excited to go without our parents for the first time. We had been best friends ever since that day we met. We both got our hot chocolate and sat at a table.

“School sucks,” I told her. “Let’s run away.”

Nette just laughed at me. “Please don’t run away. It’s not that bad, we’ll be okay. We always are.”

“Ugh, fine. Help me with this math, then, alright?” I pleaded, pulling said work from my backpack.

We worked on our homework for a while. It was long enough that we had two more hot chocolates each.

**(15 years old)**

“I’m sorry,” I told my long time best friend, handing her a hot chocolate.

“I’m sorry, too,” Marinette returned. “We both overreacted.”

We slumped into chairs across from each other.

“I didn’t mean to say you shouldn’t be friends with Alya,” I explained.  “I’m sure she’s great.”

“And I didn’t mean it when I said you’d been ignoring me for Adrien. I’m just not used to sharing you yet.”

I’d been feeling the same way. Marinette had been my best friend without competition for so long, but we were growing up. “Friends?” I offered.

“Always. I love you, Nino.”

“I love you, too, Nettie.”

**(16 years old)**

Nette is my best friend. We were at our usual table and she was working on her designs. She was so talented. I loved the way her eyes would wander down the lines she drew, trying to assure her continuity was perfect. I wish I could see it the way she did, but Adrien had taken the spot of checking over her designs. I had no right to be irritated. Adrien knew a lot more than I did about the fashion industry, and I wanted Nette to succeed.

My laptop was propped in front of me, my headphones on, but my eyes kept going back to her. Was she always this cute? Yes, of course she was, but did I always notice like this?

**(17 years old)**

“Nino, calm down.” Nette’s hand settled on my face, elbow propped on the table. “Nothing happed. You came and got me. I’m okay.”

“I want to kill him.” I wish I was exaggerating.

“I know. Trust me, I know. I want to hurt him, too, but we can’t. Don’t let your anger win, Nino. If you do, you will go to jail and your father wins. This is the shadow he left on you, but you can ignore it. _You can win._ ”

I grabbed her hand, tugging gently, and she got the message. She came to sit on my lap so I could hold her tight. “I was so scared when you called me, Nette. Don’t go on any more blind dates, okay?”

A soft laugh shook her chest. “I think I’m done with that for a while.”

_I’d rather it be forever_ , I thought. _Date me instead, please, Nettie._

“Good,” is what I told her instead.

**(17 years old)**

Marinette looked so absolutely beautiful sitting in in front of me. I couldn’t stop my heart from beating fast in my chest.

“Marinette, I need to tell you something.”

The girl raised an eyebrow at me. “Uh-oh. What’s up?”

“I-I think I fell in love with you. Possibly. Probably. Definitely.”

Blue eyes shined as they seemed to fill up, so I back-tracked. “But it’s okay! You don’t have to like me back. We’ve been best friends for ten years; I don’t want to mess that up.”

Nette let out a watery laugh. “Nino, I don’t like the hot chocolate here.”

What? Why would she choose now to tell me that? Why is the sitting in front of me _with a hot chocolate from here?_

“But why-“

“I met you here, you doof. I get the hot chocolate when I’m here with you because it’s _our thing_. Whenever I come here without you, I get a coffee.”

“So…,” I trailed off, unsure.

“So I’m in love with you, too, genius.”

I felt my face lift and my heart felt too big for my chest. “Really? God, Nette, you’re my favorite.”

“You’re mine, too.”

I leant towards her, just like I had in my head a million times, and she met me halfway. It wasn’t a long kiss, and once we pulled away, we heard a sigh from the barista, Juleka.

“Finally. Christ, you two took forever. You want a coffee, Marinette?”

“Please and thank you.”

Marinette looked back to me with a smile.

“Girlfriend?” I asked hopefully.

“Always.”

**(20 years old)**

I had planned our day meticulously. Juleka still worked at our coffee shop and had gotten pretty good at latte art.

She brought my hot chocolate and Nette’s latte over. Marinette had her phone out, ready to take a picture and brag about her friend’s artistic abilities on Instagram so she saw the message through her phone camera. It simply said ‘ _wife?’_.

I watched her eyes widen and she almost dropped her phone. I got on my knee in front of her and opened the ring box. “I fell in love with you slowly, Marinette. I fell for my best friend. I love watching you work on your designs and I love that you know all about me. I love that you drank hot chocolate that you didn’t like for years just to keep our tradition alive. I love you, Nettie. Will you marry me?”

My answer came in the form of a tackle hug and a hard kiss pressed to my lips. There wasn’t anything explicitly special about this coffee shop, but it housed our journey, which made it special to us.

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted on Tumblr. My ask box there is open to requests! https://miraculously-scattered.tumblr.com/


End file.
